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With LYB personally on scene, only success is allowed. Fortunately or unfortunately, this is another feather in LYB's cap. Hate him or not, you have to say this guy knows a thing or two about winning in badminton.

The big watch is now on to see who is going to get the golden ticket named Chen QingChen.

Akane Yamaguchi's ability is well noted and she will be, or already is, a force. To say that she will be one of the top players (i.e. top 3 vs top 8) is still premature. While she can out-physical the lesser players, it remains to be seen how she is going to deals with the elite players. One of possible outcomes may be DPY-like.

Like it or not, objectively speaking, Li Yongbo has to be the most successful even if you're reluctant to acknowledge he's the greatest Head Coach in badminton history. Indeed, just his very presence at the scene could in no small way galvanize his young cohort to perform up to his expectations - admittedly I was a bit surprised that he bother to turn up at the junior championships.

Akane Y has lots of potential, no doubt; she stands out among the best juniors in the world though not really head and shoulder above - Qin Jinjing gave her a good,close fight as I've pointed out and Busanan isn't far behind whilst at the adult/senior level she has yet to prove herself a top 8, let alone top 3, WS player as only time will tell (how else?).

This coming April's WJC will be very interesting and hotly contested, esp. in WS/GS as I expect Chen Yufei (who somehow performed under-par in the GS final earlier), He Bingjiao(who appeared leaner and fitter, a good sign), and again Qin Jinjing as well as Busanan and Aya Ohori (hopefully Liang Xiaoyu too) to be in contention for the GS title though Akane Y will still be the hot favourite. Among the Europeans, I'd be looking out for a certain Stoeva, iirc.

To me, the AJC is equivalent in strength to the WJC as most of the top junior players/pairs are from Asia, and you see more or less the same faces vying for top honours in both the championships in the same year.

In my opinion, there's no further need for Akane Yamaguchi to prove herself at the junior level having won both the WJC and now the AJC. It'd be much better for her to concentrate on doing well at the senior level.

Just watched the final. He seems to be a very defensive player, patient with some very nice overhead shots. He didn't show any urgency to attack, which is rather atypical for a young player. I hope that was a sign of maturity. Reminds me of Chen Jin, but Chen Jin had the ability to step up a gear in his attack when he needed to. Whether Shi Yuqi is capable of doing it, we'll see. Not very exciting to watch so far.

Originally Posted by typhooonn

This Chinese youngster (Shi YUQI) was great in BS final. Very smart player, he would be world champion one day, mark my words.

Akane Yamaguchi is very good at the junior level. But I don't see her being able to beat to players of the future. I think she will peak early on in her career.

Sun Yu on the other hand I think will peak later in her career but will far surpass Yamaguchi. Sun is tall and lanky, so right now she's still has some awkard movement and balance issues. She's still learning how to use her physical assets. But when she peaks, I think she'll have better angles and power and athleticism than Yamaguchi.

I don't see Yamaguchi challenging the likes of LXR or WYH on a consistent basis.